


Under the Same Sky, Over the Same Stars

by TalysAlankil



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Birthday Cake, Birthday Party, Fluff and Angst, Inspired by that meme, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Canon, you know the one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23296300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalysAlankil/pseuds/TalysAlankil
Summary: Riku prepares a surprise for Sora's first birthday as his boyfriend.
Relationships: Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	Under the Same Sky, Over the Same Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AuroraHearts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraHearts/gifts).



> Happy Birthday to AuroraHearts! And happy early birthday to Sora. This seemed like an appropriate subject matter to combine for both occasions.
> 
> Thanks [Rebel](http://archiveofourown.org/users/RebelWithARoyalHeart) and Happy for beta-reading!

"For the last time: sea salt is _not_ a viable cake flavor!"

Riku was starting to regret ever asking Lea and Isa for help. It had made sense at the time, he was sure, what with them being the older, more experienced couple, and Riku being in desperate need for guidance on how to properly celebrate the birthday of his best friend since forever—and boyfriend for the past month.

Baking him a cake was a good idea—in theory. In practice, there were a few details Riku should have considered before getting started.

Details like: Riku had no idea how to bake a cake, and neither did either of the men he'd asked for help. Asking Kairi was out of the question, since it was more likely than not that she'd blow the surprise. Aqua would have been a preferable teacher, since Riku had found out she enjoyed baking as a hobby, but she was off on a mission, and likely wouldn't be back until Sora's actual birthday.

"Oh! I know!" Lea raised his finger as if he'd found the perfect idea. "Why not make it a paopu cake?"

"A paopu cake, what a great idea," Riku said, deadpan, casting him a blank stare. "Let's just bind everyone's destinies together without them even knowing."

"Is _that_ what they do?" Lea paused, pondering the idea for a second. "You know, I think Sora might like that. He's very intense about his friends all being connected."

"We're _not_ doing a paopu cake," Riku insisted.

"Maybe you could work that idea _in_ your cake?" Isa suggested. "There's this fruit that grows on other worlds called a starfruit, which has a similar shape when you cut it. All you'd need to do is decorate the cake to make it clear what your intent actually is, and—"

" _Decorate_?" Riku couldn't help a hint of horror from filtering into his voice. He was under enough stress just about baking the cake itself.

"Lea can handle it," Isa said, with a pointed look that allowed no complaint. "The Three Good Fairies' cookbook has a recipe for sugar shapes—I'll supervise while he makes you a worthy paopu fruit."

"Oooh, yes!" Lea's eyes widened with excitement. "Maybe I can even make a tiny Sora and Riku! It'll be like a w—"

"You do whatever you can think of," Riku cut him off, nervous. A month into the relationship, he wasn't ready to hear his friends talk about _wedding_ cakes. "Okay, where can we find these—"

"Starfruit," Isa supplied.

"Yeah. I want to see what they taste like, at least." Surely he could guess if Sora would enjoy them, right? "And… _can_ we even put them in a cake?"

"They should grow some in the Land of Dragons. And there's a recipe for a starfruit cake in the cookbook too." Isa shrugged. "I'm starting to think it's magic."

"Well, they _are_ fairies," Lea pointed out.

"Yes, I'm aware," Isa said, rolling his eyes at Lea—though his smile for him was still a fond one.

Riku couldn't help but see a reflection of himself and Sora in them. Surely, if these two could manage a relationship, it couldn't be that hard to make it through one birthday. It wasn't like it was Riku's first time celebrating Sora's birthday. Even if everything felt new and different now.

"Off to the Land of Dragons, then," Riku said. "And then, the hardest part: actually baking the cake."

* * *

King Mickey had offered to host the party at Disney Castle, given how many friends Sora had that he might want to invite. In the end, the guest list was a lot more humble than anticipated, as Sora himself reminded everyone that world order meant most of his friends couldn't join—a relief for the party logistics, up to and including the dessert Riku had promised to supply in secret.

Still, the setting didn't help Riku's nerves. Disney Castle was so absurdly _big_ —especially given the size of its occupants—that it dwarfed the cake Riku was carrying on a plate even further. Riku's brain couldn't help but overfocus on how _unstable_ it felt in his hands, on how he might drop it at any moment and ruin _everything_.

It had seemed like nothing to scoff at, back in his kitchen. An upside-down cake, perfectly done—or as near as Riku could manage over five different attempts—the star pattern of fruit slices showing on the top layer.

Lea had dusted brown sugar over the top of it, the deviation from the recipe feeling like madness to Riku, but it had worked fine on one of the test cakes, and he had to admit the result was stunning: a starry beach, with a tiny, sugary, cartoony Sora and Riku gazing into each other's eyes, each laying a hand on a giant paopu fruit made of sugar. That is, the paopu fruit was the size of a real one, which made it giant compared to the two figurines.

All Riku could hope now was for it to look as good to everyone in this grandiose castle as it had to the three of them in his dingy kitchen. Or at least to Sora.

With one last nervous breath, he stepped inside the ballroom. He'd purposely come early; so far, only a few people were there. From across the room, Riku spotted Lea, who shot him a wink and a thumbs-up; then, before he could scan the rest of the guests, Kairi was in front of him, hands on her hips.

"Riku!" she said, all but chiding him. "You didn't tell me you were bringing dessert!" She eyed the cake, smiling as she did. "You went all out, huh? Who'd you commission for that?"

"I _made_ that, thank you very much." Under her studying gaze, he couldn't help but squirm. _Deep breaths_ , he told himself. _Don't want to drop it_.

"You did?" Her face lit up. "Riku, that's _amazing_!"

 _Hope Sora agrees with you_ , he stopped himself from saying. "Before you pounce on me with all that enthusiasm," he teased, "where can I put this?"

"Right. The buffet's over there. You can put it with the other cake."

 _Other_ cake? Riku was pretty sure he'd confirmed with Mickey that there was no need for another dessert. And yet, as he followed Kairi to the table, he saw it: a towering tiered cake, all in pastel blues and pinks and rich with cream, straight out of a fairy tale of a cartoon.

"Uh…" Riku couldn't help but say, intimidated at the sight of it. He almost didn't want to set his cake down next to it—it looked puny in comparison, the decoration clumsy and amateurish.

"Come on, Riku!" Kairi called, oblivious to his sudden hesitation as she was already walking away. "We need to be ready for when Sora shows up!"

Blinking his confusion away, Riku forced himself to place his cake on the table—if only so he wouldn't give in to the urge to toss it out the window. He still couldn't help from blushing with embarrassment. What had he been _thinking_ , making something so complicated with no experience and no one to guide him!

Kairi had finally realized he was lagging behind, and grabbed his hand to drag him away. "You're his boyfriend, so you _have_ to be at the front. Come on!"

"I—" Riku didn't feel the most confident right now, but before he could protest, Kairi was cutting a path through their other friends, all gathered by the ballroom's entrance. When she reached the front of the group, she stopped there, but shoved Riku forward, forcing him a few steps ahead of everyone else.

Riku barely had the time to glance at Mickey, and shoot him a confused glance, mouthing _What gives?_ as he went. If Mickey understood what he meant, he gave no sign of it.

Just then, the ballroom doors opened again, and Sora stepped through, his eyes covered by Goofy's hands as Donald guided him by the hand.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now," Goofy said, removing his hands.

Everyone in the room joined in a loud chorus of _Surprise!_ as Sora took them in, bright-eyed and exhilarated. "Thanks, guys!" After a second, though, he tapped a finger to his mouth. "But…you do know this isn't a surprise, right? I knew we were doing this."

"Oh, come on, it's still fun!" Kairi chimed in. She stepped forward, subtly nudging Riku to come with her as they crossed the few steps separating them from Sora.

Being in front of his boyfriend, Riku forced himself to clear his mind. All that mattered, right now, was the boy in front of him. "Happy birthday, Sora," he said, hoping all the warmth he felt went into his voice as he bent down to kiss him.

Immediately, Sora placed his hands behind Riku's neck, playfully trying to pull him down; not willing to be outdone, Riku wrapped his arms around Sora's waist, lifted him up and twirled him around, reveling in the hum of Sora's chuckle against his lips. The loud whoops coming from Lea and Roxas in the background were barely audible over the thrum of his own heartbeat in his ears, now that Sora was here.

When he finally laid Sora back down, they were both smiling too hard to contain it. "Go say hi to everyone," Riku said.

"Hi everyone!" Sora said, briefly turning towards the others. Then he turned back and took Riku's hand. "Sorry, but I _really_ wanna show you what I made. Well, I had some help."

Frowning, it was all Riku could do to follow Sora back to the buffet table as he waved at the imposing, magnificent other cake Riku had just seen. "Ta-da! Little Chef helped."

"What he means is," Donald chimed in from a few paces behind, "Little Chef controlled Sora, so he's the one who did everything."

"Hey!" Sora whined. "That's not at all how it works! It's really hard, you know."

 _Of course_ Sora would have been the one to bring in an unexpected cake. Anyone else would have had to go through Mickey, after all. And, well, if Riku was to be bested at this, he supposed his old rival, his best friend—his _boyfriend_ now—was the best person to do it. Especially if they had the help of a preternaturally gifted rat. It still stung, but—

"Oh, wow!" Sora said then. "Look at _that_ , Riku! There's _another_ cake!"

"Sora, it's—"

Sora ignored him, and instead dragged him a few paces to the side, never letting go of his hand, so he could see Riku's cake from up close. "Are you _seeing_ this? They even made tiny us!" With a chuckle, Sora picked up the sugar Riku. "Sorry, babe, I have a new boyfriend now!" he said, turning a playful grin to Riku. When he caught the dismay on Riku's face, his smile faded. "You okay?"

"You like it?" Riku said, in disbelief.

"Are you kidding? It's awesome!"

"But it's not—" Riku nodded towards the other cake. "It doesn't look nearly as good. I knew I shouldn't have—"

"I don't know, I'm not seeing tiny us and a paopu fruit on the beach on _that_ cake. _Plus_ we're walking over a field of stars. Did you see we're walking over _stars_?" Tilting his head, he studied Riku's face. "Wait a minute—did _you_ make it, Riku?"

Riku attempted a smile, but could only get halfway there. "Yeah?" he said, unable to put any more certainty in his voice. "Lea helped with the decoration."

"I—" Isa said from a distance—and judging by the muffled sound that followed, Lea shut him up somehow.

"Riku," Sora said, placing the sugar Riku back on the cake and placing himself right in front of the real one, "it's _amazing_. It's amazing because I now have _two_ cakes, one I didn't expect to—"

"You don't have to make me feel better."

Sora put a hand against Riku's mouth to silence him. Riku could taste the sugar lingering on his fingertips. "It's amazing because it looks really cool—and yes, it _does_. And it's amazing because _you_ made it, and you made it for _me_ , and you cared enough to make it at all. And _that's_ the most important part. Although the fact that there are now two cakes is pretty cool too."

"You really _do_ like it," Riku repeated. He felt on the verge of tears with relief, and felt silly for it.

"Of course," Sora stood on his tiptoes to press a kiss to Riku's lips. "This is the best birthday ever." Then he stepped back. "Now, come on, I wanna see if it tastes as good as it looks."

Chuckling, Riku had to hold him back. "I think the others will be sad if you skip all the food they brought and went straight to dessert."

Sora pouted at him—but only briefly. "Fine. But I'll be looking forward to it anyway."

And with that, his pout turned into a smile, and Riku was pretty sure all the lights in the ballroom must have gone out, because none of them seemed nearly as bright.


End file.
